Injured Aaron Rodgers, spotted in Chicago, is kind to Bears fans

The Bears-Packers rivalry is one of the most heated rivalries in all of sports.

Packers fans don’t like the Bears and vice versa. So you wouldn’t expect a rival player to receive a warm welcome on enemy territory.

Except that’s what happened to injured Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers recently, and he allegedly was “nice” right back to Bears fans.

Julia Nicoll and her 11-year-old son Peter were visiting from Mount Prospect, when Peter spotted a man he thought looked like Rodgers as they were all preparing to cross the street.

“I’m whispering to him like (in a doubting tone), ‘Really? I don’t think Aaron Rodgers is standing right next to us on the corner on a Saturday evening,’” said Julia, who told her story to the Green Bay Press-Gazette.

It just so happened that Rodgers was in town as his team played the Bears on Nov. 12. and he was taking a pre-dinner walk in the Loop.

As the two Bears fans crossed the street, Nicoll worked up the courage to ask the man was the Packers quarterback. Before she could finish the question, he replied “I am.”

According to Nicoll, Rodgers introduced himself to them and had an extensive conversation with the Bears fans, covering his collarbone surgery and other sports questions.

The encounter didn’t end there. After more fans recognized Rogers, they kept going and crossed the street. But Rodgers caught up with them and snapped a photo and continued the conversation.

“He just started talking to us again like we were all neighbors and friends. We walked with him again for the next 15 minutes, 20 minutes to Michigan Avenue,” Julia said. “The thing for me that really stood out as so awesome was he asked us questions. I would say he asked us more questions than I asked him, because I didn’t want to be nosy and because I didn’t want to invade his privacy.”